Search

Key Takeaways: Greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation to climate change vulnerabilities should be incorporated into existing utility business and project management processes. A comprehensive climate action plan can meet and exceed legal requirements, reduce risk, achieve business process efficiencies, apply best available science, and demonstrate social responsibility. Focused internal workgroups, expert consultation, inspired management, feedback loops, breadth of application, and quantitative detail are critical to success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical to improving environmental governance is understanding the fit (alignment) between institutional arrangements and key ecological processes. This is particularly true for biodiversity hotpots and ecologically sensitive areas that are subject to significant impacts from human activities. Here, we have developed an innovative approach to quantify ecological-institutional alignment across an environmentally and politically complex large-scale marine social-ecological system. We mapped the trans-boundary networks of marine population dispersal corridors, and intersected these with estimates of cross-country institutional linkages related to marine management and conservation. In integrating large-scale ecological-institutional networks, we identify geopolitical fit and misfit between a region's ecological processes and its governance. We have demonstrated this approach in the Indo-West Pacific region, a global marine biodiversity hotpot in the Indo-West Pacific. We present region-specific institutional and ecological networks, highlight current challenges, and suggest future directions to refine the proposed approach to quantify alignment between ecological processes and governance arrangements. Ultimately, our method has the potential to assist management efforts in prioritizing and strengthening governance to effectively safeguard ecological processes across multiple jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The persistent gap, termed the “adaptation deficit,” between the assumed ability of communities to adapt to climate change and the on-the-ground evidence of their progress to adapt is well-documented. To at least partially explain this adaptation deficit, a growing number of researchers have focused on the existence and nature of barriers to adaptation and about society’s ability to overcome them. This paper presents an empirical study that systematically identifies barriers to adaptation processes in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. To do so, a theory-driven framework, previously developed by the authors, was used here to identify, organize, and diagnose barriers in four cities and one largely urbanized region. The study identified as the most frequent type of barrier encountered in these cases is related to institutional and governance issues, followed by the attitudes, values and motivations of the actors involved. Resource and funding constraints also matter, but scientific and technical issues are far less prominent than often presumed. The theoretical framework was found to usefully support the empirical identification and organization of barriers and to provide a “road map” for designing strategies to circumvent, remove, or lower the barriers and thus come closer to closing the adaptation deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI), adopted recently in response to the degradation of coastal and marine environments in the Southeast Asia-Pacific’s Coral Triangle, emphasises the need for using existing international and regional fora to promote implementation. Large-scale marine initiatives, including the CTI, very often must contend with a remarkably complex institutional system. This raises the question of whether and how such complexity can be conducive to marine resources management. To answer this question, this paper aims to better understand the governance context in which the CTI was established (i.e., map governance fragmentation/complexity), and explore how such a context may support the implementation of the CTI goals (i.e., examine normative interplay). To conduct this examination, it uses an objective method that allows users to view and explore institutional arrangements through a network approach. By documenting the system of existing institutions in the Coral Triangle, the study shows that the Coral Triangle governance system is illustrative of those of international environmental governance. It involves multiple policy domains, and features different institutional arrangements and variability in terms of geographical scope and main subject matter. Such a system is complex and fragmented, marked by jurisdiction and functional overlaps. The paper suggests interplay management, such as inter-institutional learning and enhancing institutional synergy, as a promising process to promote inter-institutional coordination. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Implementation of marine ecosystem-based management requires improved understanding of existing governance, including gaps and overlaps resulting from fragmented management. Focusing on overlaps, this paper presents a technique using text analysis to assist in the identification of agencies and laws involved in overlaps from a system perspective. The overlaps analysis uses term frequency counts on ocean laws and regulations in conjunction with relevant agency authority. Such information delivered in a transparent user-friendly presentation can help policymakers and other constituents of ecosystem-based management to find existing overlaps as a step to facilitate improved coordination. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Transitioning ocean governance into an ecosystem-based approach requires improved knowledge of ecosystems and existing management systems. While there has been increased effort to compile and synthesize ecological data, relatively little scholarship has been focused on improving and understanding ocean management systems. This paper presents a unique dataset that makes objective analyses of ocean management possible across multiple jurisdictions and sectors in the California Current. Following an explanation of the criteria used to compile relevant statutes and regulations, the paper suggests applications for the dataset including education and policy uses and ecosystem-based management tool development to identify and measure problems of fragmented management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Most climate change researchers in California want to increase their engagement with practitioners, and the more researchers focus on climate change, the more they want to engage practitioners. • The frequency of engagement with practitioners varies significantly across academic fields. • The most highly engaged disciplines are also the most peripheral disciplines in climate science. • Representing empirically the social structure of climate research, including its demographic and disciplinary composition, can inform future research on the "co-production" of climate information in contexts of public decision-making. Interactions between researchers and practitioners can lead to the increased use of climate science in decision-making. Past studies on these interactions have focused on the information needs of decision-makers, but less is known about why and how climate researchers choose to engage with decision-makers. Understanding the experiences, beliefs and constraints on both sides of the 'knowledge-action gap' is critical for implementing robust climate adaptation strategies. This study thus examines the perspectives and experiences of researchers regarding practitioner engagement, drawing from an original survey of California's climate research community (N = 991) and supplemental interviews. Given a history of support for climate research and climate change adaptation, analysis of the California case is useful as a means of characterizing the relationship between climate research and practitioner engagement. We find that most scientists want to engage more with practitioners but are constrained by several factors, including resource limitations and the challenge of building relationships. Additionally, we find that the level of interest and frequency of engagement with stakeholders varies significantly across academic disciplines. We demonstrate that building capacity within research organizations and integrating stakeholder engagement in funding criteria and professional development can help foster relationship-building between scientists and decision-makers. The analysis suggests that the social structure of climate research warrants further examination of the ways that climate researchers relate to practitioners at present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]